There has been no confirmation that there was paint peeling in the UConn locker room at halftime of the International Bowl.

But clearly a message got across after UConn had six first-half fumbles, losing five, leading to all 20 Buffalo points.

Hell broke loose.

"I just told them it was all about pride," UConn coach Randy Edsall said after the Huskies' 38-20 come-from-behind victory over Buffalo on Saturday before 40,184 at the Rogers Centre. "It was pride. How much pride do we have? We basically gave them 20 points. Our defense could have had a shutout today if we didn't make some of the blunders that we made. But it was about pride and we had to come out with a lot of energy in the second half.

"And you know what? We have a stallion on offense and we rode him all the way to the finish line."

What else is new?

It was the last time, however, UConn will ride the most decorated player in the history of the program.

Donald Brown, the school's first All-American in football at the major college level, is going pro. He announced after the game that he would forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft in April.

Edsall's eyes welled up in talking about Brown, who rushed for a career-high 261 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, giving him 2,083 yards this season, most in the nation.

He scored his 18th touchdown of the season on a 45-yard burst in the first quarter, and had a 75-yard run to set up a touchdown in the second quarter.

The defense had a big hand in the victory, too, limiting the Bulls (8-6) to 94 yards in the first half and a season-low 237 for the game, compared with the Huskies' 407. Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy was 29-for-43 passing, but for only 213 yards, and the Bulls were held to 10 first downs.

"I wish we could have done more on offense," Willy said. "They're a good defense, I'll give it to them. But we left some plays on the field."

The Huskies (8-5) outscored Buffalo 21-0 in the second half, taking the lead on Tyler Lorenzen's 4-yard touchdown pass to Steve Brouse with 5:22 left in the third quarter, completing a 56-yard drive.

The Bulls' main offense, really, was simply falling on all those fumbles to score or set up points.

"It didn't bother us at all," senior defensive end Cody Brown said. "[Assistant coach Todd Orlando] is always talking about football gods. I guess the football gods gave it to Buffalo a little bit today because of the '58 team," which turned down an invitation to the 1958 Tangerine Bowl because its two African American players weren't going to be allowed to play.

"So they got a little slack today. We just had to pick it up and do what we do best, and that's play good defense."

Buffalo, the Mid-American Conference champion, came in with a reputation of being opportunistic, a plus-15 in the turnover department, and the Bulls got to it right away. A Buffalo punt bounced off UConn's Jonathan Jean-Louis and was recovered by Alex Pierre at the UConn 23, which led to A.J. Principe's 38-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.

After a 45-yard kickoff return by Jordan Todman, Brown went 45 yards on first down to give UConn the lead. Dave Teggart gave the Huskies a 10-3 lead with a 32-yard field goal in the second quarter, then the Bulls ripped off 17 unanswered points.

Jasper Howard couldn't control, then accidentally booted, a punt into the end zone, and Ray Long beat him to the ball and pounced on it to make it 10-10 with 11:36 left in the half.

On the Huskies' next possession, a Lorenzen fumble was recovered by Buffalo's Anel Montanez of Trumbull at the UConn 29. Buffalo got a 29-yard Principe field goal out of it and a 13-10 lead.

Robbie Frey mishandled the ensuing kickoff, which he brought out of the end zone and then fumbled at the 4. Bulls running back James Starks slammed in from there for a 20-10 lead.

But that's where it ended for the Bulls and began for the Huskies: Brown's 75-yard run set up Lorenzen's 13-yard TD run before the half - and the Edsall speech.

Lorenzen hit Brouse for the go-ahead score in the third quarter, and darted around right end from 15 yards for a TD with 4:44 left.

Senior safety Dahna Deleston of East Hartford closed out the scoring with a 100-yard interception return with 2:15 left to give the Huskies their second bowl victory in three appearances.